Delusions of Grandeur

Wow, I can't believe that the quarter is almost over. Ten weeks sure does feel shorter than 16! I thought I would hate the quarter system with a fiery passion, and while it still does feel a bit rushed, the fact that I only have two years to get in and out does mean that I'm thankful for the extra classes I can shoehorn in.

( This quarter's classes, now that they're almost done... )

( On the home front (Date Nights with R2, and Big Hero 6)... )

And that's about it for what's been going on with me, unless someone wants an extremely detailed run-down of virtual reference, or the future of digitization as a preservation technique, or a sort of sketchy outline of q qualitative analysis methods. XD

( Foxglove Summer... )
Finally, I didn't get this up yesterday like I'd hoped, but in honor of Thanksgiving, I still would like to do a Things What I Am Thankful For:

( People... )

( Little things... )

( A's 16th birthday was a week ago last Friday... )

( A little bit of drama, but also Pacific Rim... )

( School stuff (stats and Berkeley)... )

( "The Borders of Infinity"... )

( Dodger... )

Not sure what to categorize these, just a couple of amusing and/or useful links that I've found floating around, and I think y'all might like:

- I've watched this one maybe 20 times, and literally been incapacitated by laughter every time, which I take as a good sign. Anyway, without further ado, I present: O Fortuna! (Watch the volume - it starts out really quiet, but then SURPRISE LOUD halfway through.)

- Guys, there's going to be a How to Train Your Dragon 2! I saw the first one only recently and had a very similar "omg why did I wait this long this is fantastic!!!" reaction to AtLA, only to a much lesser degree. But anyway, I'm psyched for this new one - speaking of AtLA similarities, Hiccup got hot in the ensuing five years or whatever. Who knew? (He's taken, though - thanks to tumblr, I now ship him and similarly-grown-up!Merida from Brave like whoa.)

- Speaking of stuff that's coming out soon, we just got the first trailer for Legend of Korra s2! I'm hoping they'll pull another AtLA, where the first season was good, and then the second season was FUCKING AMAZING, but then again, I don't want to get my hopes up too high or anything. It looks like this season is going to be creepier, though; or at least there will be more spirits and other assorted beasties, which I'm all in favor of.


For your meme-ing pleasure, this week's installment comes from ikel89, of the "pick six interests from my profile for me to blather about" type - just let me know if you want a set of your own!

( Good Omens, Tithe, X-Men, Nostalgia Chick, graphic novels, and folklore... )

( The highlight of the week, socially speaking, was hanging out with hamsterwoman... )

( ...but also M (with bonus fandom!flailing)... )

( First week of classes!... )

( War for the Oaks... )

Oh, and one final note: apparently, Emma put together an 11-minute-long mini-film for War For the Oaks, which was directed by her husband, Will Shetterly, and can be found here. Ooh, I love book-as-movie trailers, especially when they're produced by the creators themselves! While I'm on the subject, for my own reference, here are the Crucible of Gold and Good Omens ones (heck, have another fun, if slightly less accurate, one). 'Course, I'm open to any recommendations, if anyone has run across any good ones. ;)

( Pretty much the only interesting things to happento me this week happened on Monday... )
( The second episode of Game of Thrones, "The Night Lands," is out... )
( In related news, my Hand of the King pin also arrived on Monday... )
( It's already time to pick classes for next semester... )
( One more ASOIAF/GoT thing: socks... )

To top things off, we're back to the regular schedule: life blathering, fandom blathering, and a meme!

1. Witch-finder Sergeant Shadwell (Good Omens)
2. Xavin (Runaways)
3. Carrot Ironfoundersson (Discworld)
4. Jane Roland (Temeraire)
5. Oromë the Hunter (The Silmarillion)
6. Rosie Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings)
7. Robert Baratheon (A Song of Ice and Fire)
8. Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter)
9. Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5)
10. Zoë Alleyne Washburne (Firefly)
11. Rory Pond-Williams (Doctor Who)
12. Sophie Aubrey (Aubreyad)
13. DI Greg Lestrade (Sherlock)
14. The Archive/Ivy (Dresden Files)
15. Vlad Taltos (Dragaera)

( Answers 1-20... )


[This is a 40-question meme, but the other answers had to be sacrificed to my old foe, the Posting Limit Demon, so I'll put them up in another post momentarily.]

( When I say this has been a hellishly rough week, I'm not exaggerating... )


Like I said last time, I've been doing memes to blow off steam. These two are the last ones I've got done, although I do have one or two more in the works.

This first one is...yet another randomized character meme! Yayyyy!

1. Hoban “Wash” Washburne (Firefly)
2. Martha Jones (Doctor Who)
3. John Granby (Temeraire)
4. Ellen Harvelle (Supernatural)
5. Jaime Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire)
6. Elsbet Cavish (Nightrunner)
7. Elrond (Lord of the Rings/Silmarillion/The Hobbit)
8. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter)
9. Eliot (The Magicians)
10. Diana Villiers (Aubrey-Maturin)
11. Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
12. Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey)
13. Thomas Raith (Dresden Files)
14. Adora Belle Dearheart (Discworld)
15. Nealan of Queenscove (Tortall Universe)

( Answers... )


Finally, hamsterwoman tagged me in a meme. The rules are thus: You give 11 random facts about you, answer the questions I've asked, and then tag 11 people to answer the 11 questions you give. However, I don't know if anyone besides brit_columbia and the aforementioned hamsterwoman actually read this blog (if there are any lurkers hanging around, now is a perfect time to step forward!), so I tag them. XD

( 11 Random Facts About Me: )


( 11 questions answered... )


( 11 questions for you to answer... )

( I'm fairly well settled-in at Cal, now (and my continuing search for good Chinese, Mexican, and sweet food)... )


( The upsides and downsides of having horribly far away classes... )


( I recently read an intervew with Temeraire author Naomi Novik that contained three good pieces of information and one very bad piece of information... )


( The "ASOIAF as a musical" dreams I mentioned a few weeks ago have continued... )


TBH, I'm feeling kinda nervous about classes starting, so at this point I'm blogging mostly to relieve stress. I'm taking a pretty full load this semester, and while all of my classes are at least mildly necessary, I really don't want to screw up. Getting into the UCLA IS program promises to be difficult at best, and I'm going to need some kickass grades if I even want a shot. (Also, a contributing factor of my nervousness is that I'm planning on watching "The Reichenbach Fall," the last s2 episode of Sherlock later today, and given the inevitable subject matter and what reactions I've already seen, I'm fully prepared for at least a little bit of blubbering).

( Artsy, nerdy pic (by popular request)... )
 
( Mini-fan-babble on Young Avengers... )
 
( A few more ruminations on Temeraire shipping... )
 
( I got my brother started reading ASOIAF... )
 
( Other RL doings (a few quasi-philosophical thoughts on technology, travel, and the end of my first semester at Cal...) )